We stop at Castelfranci, village immersed in the green woods and wet by the river Calore, historically, it was a territory crossed by the ancient Wine Railway: the Avellino-Rocchetta Sant'Antonio line used for the transport of grapes in France. The village, set in a panoramic position on the Calore River valley, and surrounded by fertile countryside planted with vineyards and olive groves, hides, in memory of a rich past of history, the ruins of the first feudal mill, built along the right bank of the river Calore , with a royal decree of April 5th, 1834, when the Municipality of Castel Franci in Principato Ulteriore needed to acquire a new and modern mill. We are in a pleasant place, suspended over times; let yourself be carried away by the breath of the transparent waters that crash on the rocks, and in which you can see trout and carp.

The restaurant Il Vecchio Mulino 1834, built in stone, located in Bosco Baiano, which runs along the river Calore, preserves the gears of the 1900s. At the reception a professional Daniele Del Polito, owner of the restaurant together with his sister Pina. Irpinia cuisine with ancient flavors combined with the tastes which satisfy the most modern palates, careful to local products, traditional Irpinian recipes, with a modern reinterpretation of the dish.

Carnival is a very enchanting party in Irpinia; parades, floats of masks, make ups and disguises, crowd into the streetEverything is in full swing for the great event which every year involves adults and children from all over the world. The s of many villages at the rhythm of drums and tarantella. Different traditions have passed on "Personae" and bizarre scenes, unique and strictly "Made in Irpinia": The wagons of Montemarano, Paternopoli, Gesualdo and Castelfranci, the Zeza of Mercogliano and Bellizzi Irpino, the dance "O 'ntreccio" ofForino, " la 'ndrezzata "of Cervinara, the Squqqualacchiun of Teora, the lace of love of Baiano," A' Mascarata "ofPandola sqaure andBiagiana. This time, the seesighting train Avellino - Rocchetta Sant'Antonio, a line that used to connect Avellino to the inland areas of Irpinia, will run for this awaited event and will stop in Montemarano on 11 and 18 February 2018.

Mascarata Biagiana:

it takes the name from the area of Serino village, San Biagio, where the scene of a wedding takes place and in which the bride is a transvestite man and the groom, a gross and rough man. Other typical figures are the bear or the ugly, represented by an animal with sheepskin, with a large bells, frightening passersby and "A Vecchiarella", a man who disguises himself as an old woman carrying his elder partner on her shoulders.

N'drezzata Cervinarese:

The n'drezzata is an ancient and characteristic dance that simulates a famous Cervinarian battle. The fast-paced and impetuous rhythm is punctuated, even today, with wooden sticks The dance is performed by 12 pairs of local youths (including 12 girls and 12 boys).

O'ntreccio di Forino:

It is a dance of the carnival tradition that provides precisely the interweaving of circles decorated with colorful ribbons, which create a special and unique effect, under the rhythm of Forino tarantella , the Martignanese.

The Zeza of Bellizzi:

Adopted by the Neapolitan tradition of the seventeenth century, the protagonists are Pulcinella, his wife Zeza (a man disguised as a woman), their daughter Porzia and Don Zenobbio.

Squqqualacchiun di Teora

It is the oldest Carnival in Irpinia, Teora people are very proud of it. The "Squacqualacchiun" are masks that run around the village with sticks causing a dark noise of bells, disturbing the passers-by with laziness and licentious gestures, then disappearing in the alleys. The term "Squacqualacchiun" could in fact derive from the dialectal voice "squacquarat" which means 'unkempt'. Their origin is linked to pre-Christian uses. The "Squacqualacchiun" recall rituals of the Bacchanalia and the Dionysiacs. They represent “life” a moment of intoxication, of joy, of escape, of freedom.

The Lace of love of Baiano:

The dance of the lace is a pre-Christian propitiatory rite. The dance is intertwined around a pole stuck in the center of the square at the top of which are fixed the 'laces of love', twenty long and colorful ribbons, held for the other head by the twenty dancers who, at the sound ofan harmonic with two low, start the dances from left to right, in loose pairs.

Among the many Christmas events, the Living Nativity of Gesualdo, of the namesake village, in the heart of green Irpinia, its really worth visiting, because it becomes, during Christmas holidays, the stage of an event that branches off into the entire village. Gesualdo, formerly a bulwark of Duchy of Benevento borders, was, then, the residence of the Prince of Music Carlo Gesualdo, who, in the Renaissance,turned it into the pompous court of Gesualdo. The Prince, remembered as an introverted and tormented spirit, with a not always easy life (with several physical sufferings and personal disappointments), found in a peaceful, quiet, and cleanenvironment, vast landscapes and woods, the ideal place where to devote himself completely to music, his passion, and his life company from an early age. Music and religiosity were united in his works, nephew of two cardinals, and with a literary father and music lover, he had a strict education in music and religion.

Gesualdo, with its village, the castle, the narrow streets, its streets carved in stones, the continuous interweaving of stairs, is, during the Christmas holidays, the symbolic Bethlehem to relive the nativity. Here, each participant, does not act ancient techniques, but revives the past, performing perfectly the almost forgotten crafts, the stonemason, the blacksmith, the cobbler, ancient scenes of everyday family life; there are women, true grandmothers and true mothers, doing housework, and in the preparation of frugal food, typical of rural tradition. The spectator is definitively involved in the magical atmospheres of Gesualdo and from the white light of the torches that, will light up for two celebration days, the ancient medieval village of Irpinia.

Gesualdo is also the cradle of one of Terredora estates: the vineyard of Falanghina Irpinia D.O.C. Corte diGiso, its name recalls its origin, referring to the medieval cour of Carlo Gesualdo.

Luciano De Crescenzo, neapolitan philosopher, writer and filmmaker, in a scene of his funny movie "So Bellavista spoke" explains to his friends that persons and people are divided basically into two categories; one of love and one of freedom. People of love prefer crib and bath, those of freedom, Christmas tree and shower. Naples is a people of love and its passion for the crib has become an art handed down for centuries by Crib Artisans. San Gregorio Armeno, with its shops and stands of terracotta shelters of all sizes, artifacts, little stuff, architectural structures, is an open-air theater of scenic representations.

Going on across San Gregorio Armeno, we get to another alley, in the middle of courts street ; here every corner you can find a tavern, a pizzeria, with its queue of tourists, students, waiting for their turn, for having an economic, typical and succulent meal. We stop at number 47, at Campagnola, a cozy trattoria, with a good offer of Terredora wines and a wide culinary choice, from traditional to revisited dishes, meat and fish.

Antonio, the young owner, has unveiled us one of his most traditional and popular recipes; His Majesty "the fried", which can only be accompaighed with a wine coming from a Regal field, Taurasi CampoRe Docg.

Ingredients

1 kg of pork plucks (lung, heart, spleen, trachea)

2 white onions

4 cloves of garlic

5 bay leaves

500 g of lard

Concentrate of sweet and spicy peppers, a pinch of salt

How to cook:

Cut the offal to pieces not too small.

Rice in lard with laurel and onions cut at brunoise.

Let it boil for about 40 minutes until the water released from the offal has dried.

Add the sweet and spicy pepper concentrate in equal quantities to balance the flavor.

Stir in, salt and let the soup rest for about 10 minutes before serving on toasted bread or with spaghetti.